Drinking Buddies
by MikeJaffa
Summary: Rommie and Jo are so alike, two beings created for war. Wouldn't it be natural for them to go drinking?
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: Drinking Buddies

AUTHOR: MikeJaffa

SUMMARY: Rommie and Jo seem so alike, two beings made for war. Wouldn't it be natural for them to go drinking?

DISCLAIMER: I won neither Andromeda, Burst Angel, nor Grimjack (which is needed for the crossover).

SILLY MUSE WARNING: In effect. Don't eat or drink.

"Hey, Kyohei." Kyhohei heard Jo's voice and felt her pushing on his shoulder. "Wake up."

Kyohei opened his eyes. He was lying in his underwear on the extended futon in the trailer's living room. Sei, Amy, and Meg were spending the night at Sei's grandfather's, and Sei had asked him to cook for Jo and house sit (trailer sit?) in case Jo had been called away. Kyohei had agreed, not without being a little nervous, but Sei had promised him extra money, and he couldn't say no…to extra money. But the evening had been uneventful, Jo's videos had been less gory than normal, and he'd turned in hoping his luck would hold out. Now, he wasn't so sure: Jo was standing over him with her red coat and white scarf on.

"What time is it?" Kyo asked.

"0130 hours." Jo held out her hand. "Need your scooter keys."

"Oh, no." Kyo rolled away from her. "Can't it wait until the others get back tomorrow?"

"Has to be now. Promise I won't wreck it."

"You said that the last time."

"Mean it."

"You said that last time, too."

"Please."

Kyo's eyes opened and he rolled back towards her. "You didn't say that last time."

"Pretty please."

"Are you feeling all right?"

"Pretty please with sugar on it."

Kyo sighed, sat up, grabbed his pants off the floor, and fished his keys out of his pocket. "I'm only doing this because if you're any nicer to me, your head will explode, and I'll never get all the blood out of my clothes in time for cooking classes." He handed her the keys and rolled back away for her.

Jo smiled slightly. "Thanks, buddy. Be back before you know I'm gone."

"Whtehvvr," Kyo muttered into his pillow.


	2. Chapter 2

Jo came down to the steps into Munden's Bar, the hole in the wall in the middle of Cynosure, the pan-dimensional city. Rommie was already sitting at the bar, as always sipping room temperature superconductor fluid and munching on carboxite - an anthropomorphic method of replenishing the stores of raw materials her body's auto-repair systems used to deal with minor damage. Jo noted Rommie's hair was now blue instead of black. Rommie saw Jo out of the corner of her eye and raised her glass slightly in acknowledgement.

Jo looked to her left and nodded to Grimjack, the bar's owner, sitting in a darkened corner from where he could see all the action. Grimjack nodded back. Then Jo sat on the stool next to Rommie.

"Hey, Jo," said Gordon, the bar tender. "Usual?"

"Yeah."

Gordon put a beer and small bowl of pretzels in front of Jo; Jo put some notes on the bar. "Keep the change, Gord."

"Thanks, Jo." He took the money.

Jo and Rommie stared straight ahead, drinking and eating.

"Hey," Jo said.

"Hey," Rommie replied.

"Love the hair," Jo said.

"Thanks," Rommie said. "How ya been?"

"Good. Yourself?"

"Good. What's new?"

"We still have the same cook," Jo said.

Rommie arched her eyebrows. "After six months? That's a record."

"Mmm," Jo said.

"Yeah. What's he like?"

"Short, cute, thin, whiney."

"Told you you'd get one."

"You did."

"Dataport?" Rommie asked.

"No," Jo said.

"Crush on you?"

"Can't tell."

"Crush on somebody?"

"Maybe."

"Gay?"

"Hope not."

"Mmm," Rommie said.

"Yeah," Jo affirmed.

"Annoying?" Rommie asked.

"Yeah," Jo answered. "Why are the annoying ones always so blasted cute?"

"No idea, but it makes you not want to kill 'em."

"Mmm."

"Yeah. Going to bang him?"

Jo lingered on the question before eating another pretzel. "Not sure. Thinking it over. What about your whiner?"

"Nah, don't think so." But Rommie smiled slightly. "We're still very close, though, closer than I've every been to anybody. So that's enough for me."

"Mmm. What happened with the, uh, what do you call them….?"

"Magog eggs. We got them out, although we almost destroyed our universe in the process. And Trance is now gold."

"How'd that happen?"

"Changed places with her future self."

"I'm confused."

"You're telling me."

"Mmm."

"Yeah. Anything new at your end?"

"Saw old same old. Sei's still trying to figure out where these glowing brains are coming from. I'm like, 'Whatever, just give me something to shoot at.' I don't know how you do it, Rommie. When I'm not fighting. I'm a lump. But you're always busy."

"I'm the ship's AI - in effect, I am the ship - so I have responsibilities for the well being of my crew that go beyond being a weapons platform. But still, I wish the others would get that building missiles and tweaking fire control in peace is my idea of a quiet afternoon. Beka is like, 'We have to get you a hobby.' That is my hobby. Even Harper doesn't quite get it, and he knows me better than my designers. Know what I mean?"

"I know. I'm like, 'No, I'm fine, just let me have an afternoon cleaning my guns.' It's relaxing, you know, kind of a Zen thing, but no, they won't hear it. Still, I tried to go along. We went to the beech. That was good for a few laughs. Which reminds me, can I ask you something, Rommie?"

"Sure, Jo."

"In volleyball, are you supposed to hit the guys on the other side with the ball?"

"No. Why?"

"Cook."

"Oh. He ok?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

"Mmm."

"Yeah."

Jo ate the last pretzel, downed the last of the beer, and climbed off her stool. "Well, Rommie, it was good seeing you again. These little chats really put things in perspective, and as always, you've given me a lot to think about. I really enjoyed seeing you."

"Back at ya, Jo. Same time next month?"

"If I'm alive, sure. See ya."

"Later."


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey, Kyo, I'm back."

Kyo blinked up at her. "What time is it?" he asked as he took the keys back.

"0135 hours."

"You were gone for five minutes?"

"By this clock, yeah. But you'll need to get gas in the morning."

"Huh? I filled it up before I came here."

"I used it up."

"In five minutes? Where did you go?"

"Had a drink with a friend."

"All the bars are closed."

"Around here, yeah."

"I give up. G'night, Jo."

"'Night." Jo started to to walk away from the futon, then turned back. "Oh, what the hell." She grabbed Kyo's wrist and dragged him down the hall to her and Meg's room.

"What the-?" Kyo stammered as he stumbled after her. "Jo, what are you-"

"Shut up and take your clothes off," Jo said when she got Kyo into her room.

"What did you say!?"


	4. Chapter 4

"We're back!" Meg called as she led Sei and Amy into the trailer. "Jo? Kyohei? Hey, where are you guys?"

Silence answered them for a moment, then they heard one of the bedroom doors slide open. Kyohei shambled into the living room, still pulling on his jacket, looking exhausted. Jo was behind him, wearing her orange night shirt and looking a little more alert than normal.

Meg put two and two together very quickly. "What the … Kyo, did you have sex with Jo!?"

"Sex?" Kyo whined. "Is that what you call it? I thought it was professional wrestling. Thank you for clearing that up, Meg. Sei, can I take the next day or two or hundred off? I think I'm going to need psychotherapy and reconstructive surgery on my pelvis."

"Uh, take a couple of days off," Sei said. "I think we can get by without you for that long."

"Thanks." Kyo shook his head as he shuffled for the door. "Out of my mind, I must be out of my mind to come here…" They heard him muttering until he closed the door behind him.

Jo smiled slightly. "He loved it." She turned and headed back toward her room.

Sei said, "She went out again last night. It is that time of the month."

"What, when she goes our for five minutes and says she was drinking?" Meg said. "That doesn't make any sense."

"I know," Sei said, "but she does it every month. She must have one heck of a drinking buddy."


End file.
